Former President Serzh Sarkisian awarding a medal to his brother, Levon Sarkisian, on March 22, 2016. (Source: Azatutyun.am)
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The brother of former President Serzh Sarkisian and his two children could face prosecution on corruption charges after law-enforcement authorities discovered nearly $7 million held by them in an Armenian bank.
The State Revenue Committee (SRC) launched criminal proceedings against them on Friday shortly after announcing that a company linked to Levon Sarkisian has been fined 800 million drams ($1.7 million) for tax evasion.
The SRC said that, while searching Sarkisian’s home, its investigators found documents showing that he, his son, Narek, and daughter, Ani, deposited a total of $6.8 million in the unnamed bank in the second half of 2017. It said that the ex-president’s youngest brother and Ani Sarkisian failed to disclose these sums to a state anti-corruption body while Narek Sarkisian did not file any income declarations at all.
Under Armenian law, such declarations are mandatory for high-ranking state officials and their family members. This legal requirement applies to Levon Sarkisian because he has long worked as ambassador-at-large at the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS), which took over the corruption inquiry launched by the SRC, said on Monday that Sarkisian and his children are now suspected of “illegal enrichment.â€
